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He laughed too, and that broke the tension inside him. “I just want to do—and be—the man you deserve.”
She took his face in her hands and said, “Ty, you’re trying too hard. We’re getting to know each other. I’m not going anywhere if you have some shoes sitting by the front door.”
He scoffed, his light eyes sparkling with teasing. “Who leaves their shoes by the front door?” They laughed together, and Ty took her into his arms and kissed her sloppily.
And that only added to the adventure that today had become.
* * *
Sage laughed with one client,then moved to the next and asked her about her grandmother. They came in, got their hair done, and left. Day after day.
Ty had put together a market analysis for the waterfront property, and because she wasn’t his only client, a week had gone by. She told herself it didn’t matter, because the house wasn’t on the market. It wasn’t like someone else was going to come in and swoop it out from underneath her.
Thelma had started bringing home boxes and packing up her things, and that only reminded Sage that she’d still be in the apartment. Alone. She didn’t mind being alone, but she wanted a bigger space to expand her wings and fly.
She was halfway through applying the bleach for one of her clients when her manager said, “Sage, there’s someone here for you.”
She twisted to look over her shoulder, and she found Ty standing there. He grinned from ear-to-ear, and that sent Sage’s pulse into a frenzy. Normally, she wouldn’t just walk away from a client in this state, but something told her to get over there and talk to him.
“Could you—?” She handed Barb the brush and left her station. She semi-heard her boss’s protests, but the light shining out of Ty’s face blurred the words.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she approached him. He grabbed her hand and towed her right out of The Salon Mionic. “What’s happening?” She laughed, but her heart pounded at the same time. “Did you sell the Keller house?”
He’d told her about this mega-expensive property that had been on the market for ten months, and he said maybe one day, he could take her for a showing of it—if she promised not to get lost.
Get lost. In a house here on the island.
“No,” he said almost breathlessly. “I am closing a deal today, but it’s not that one.” He turned back to her. “It’s yours, Sage. Judge Caldwell accepted your offer. The house is yours!”
Sage’s heartbeat stopped, then accelerated quickly. “What? He accepted it?”
“You got the house!” He grabbed onto her and hugged her, and Sage started bouncing on the tips of her toes.
“I can’t believe it.” She laughed too, so much giddiness galloping through her. “Thank you, Ty. Thank you.” She tried to kiss him, but there was too much joy between them. As quickly as their euphoria had begun, it started to subside. “Let’s celebrate tonight. Just me and you. Pepperoni pizza on the back deck of the house I just bought.”
She searched his face. “Do you think we could do that? I mean, no one lives there, right?”
He laughed again. “I’ll make a couple of calls and let you know, okay? I have a meeting this afternoon, and I pulled you from a client.” He kissed her quickly. “But I had to tell you, and I was five minutes from the salon when the text came in.”
“Thank you, Ty.” Sage felt like she’d had her blood replaced with coffee. Her nerves and adrenaline hummed together, and she said, “Thank you,” again as he started for the parking lot.
“I’ll call you later,” he called over his shoulder, leaving her to turn back to the salon. She’d left her phone inside, but this news had to come out now. So she burst through the doors and lifted both hands above her head.
“I got the house!”
The salon was busy, but everyone had heard her, and cheering started. She grinned as she practically bounced back to her station, where Barb had nearly finished with the bleach. She exhaled heavily, like she’d just run a marathon while eating cotton candy and throwing back little bottles of energy drinks.
“I got the house,” she said to her client, and thankfully, now Teresa smiled at her. She couldn’t wait to get her under the dryer, so she could text her Supper Club.
17
“Oh, there he is,” Harrison yelled as Ty entered the house behind Sage. “The man of the hour!” The crowd who’d gathered in Harrison’s beachfront house cheered, lifting their drinks into the air from the kitchen.
Ty grinned and laughed as everyone who’d gathered surged forward. Sherman barked and barked, joining the fray in the large area that suddenly felt too small. Sage danced ahead of him, her dark eyes glinting with so much happiness.
She hugged her friend Bessie, then moved over to Bea while Ty shook hands with Harrison and then accepted the bottle of beer from him. “I don’t know how you do it,” Harry said with a chuckle. “It’s like you have secret connections everywhere.”
“I wish,” Ty said with a laugh. He grabbed onto Grant and hugged him, because Grant was a hugger.
